


Solemnly Swear

by marey_writes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Emotional Infidelity, Eventual James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:22:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29827665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marey_writes/pseuds/marey_writes
Summary: Farrah Cole has moved from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to Hogwarts at the beginning of her 6th year. When she meets the Marauders on the train, she immediately finds herself wound in their friend group. She meets James Potter and has yet to hear of his unfortunate pining over the same girl since first year when he begins to pursue her. Her life takes a turn for the worst when she finds herself enthralled by the boy and he tries to move on from Lily Evans. All the while, a completely different Marauder secretly pines over her just as James once had for Lily.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, James Potter/Original Female Character(s), Remus Lupin/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

The idea of moving across the world should have sent fear coursing through Farrah Cole, but she was actually rather ecstatic about the move. Farrah found herself bursting with anticipation to becoming a new student at Hogwarts, the widely known wizarding school that students across the globe knew of. Farrah was saying goodbye to her parents as she made her way to the Hogwarts Express.

"Don't forget to write us as soon as you get settled," Her mother, Sienna, yelled after her. Her hand waving goodbye fluttered to her mouth as she shouted more abruptly than she had planned. Farrah smiled softly at her parents before giving them a wave and pulling her things onto the train. Her younger brother, Timothy, followed behind her, but made a move to open a compartment that held a few other boys seemingly around his age. One of them had dirty blonde hair and a bored expression on his face, another had darker hair with an obsessive tick to wet his lips, and the other two had jet black hair and both looked like they would rather be anywhere else. Timothy glanced at the boys, locking eyes with the one with black curly hair, and sent his sister off on her own with a timid wave and a crooked smirk.

She rushed into the first compartment she seen, not paying the lanky boy with brown hair any mind as she pulled the window open and shouted out to her parents.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Farrah closed the window after her father, Daulton, waved goodbye and her mother blew her a final kiss. When Farrah turned around, she came face to face with four boys, all staring in bewilderment at the girl who didn't realize this was their claimed compartment they had rode in every year since first year.

"Uh, hello boys," Farrah gave them all a soft smile, dodging the shortest one with blonde hair as she picked up her trunk and tried to set it in the top compartment above their seats. She struggled but was too stubborn to ask for help. Luckily, the brown-haired boy noticed.

"Here, let me," She felt his body push against her back as he grabbed her trunk and helped her raise it higher and set it down.

"Thanks..." Farrah trailed off, holding out her hand, inviting the boy to introduce himself. Just as he took her hand to shake, he was pushed to the side by a rather uproarious boy with crooked glasses resting on his nose.

"I'm James," The boy smirked at her and grabbed her hand roughly to give it a quick shake. "James Potter." Farrah smiled and nodded slightly, before turning back to the other boy.

"I'm Farrah Cole. And you are?" She smiled sweetly to the boy who had already dove back into his book, seemingly surprised that the girl had ignored James and turned to him.

"Oh, I-I'm Remus Lupin," The boy stuttered, but grabbed Farrah's hand softly and her smile widened at his gentle touch. She heard another boy snicker and turned towards him. She rolled her eyes slightly before he took her hand and gave it a tender kiss. She recoiled slightly and scoffed.

"I am Sirius Black, darling," Farrah couldn't help but laugh slightly at the boy, Sirius, which caused him to cock an eyebrow at her and smirk even wider. She pulled her hand from Sirius' and sat herself down in between Remus and the blonde boy, who she later learned was named Peter. Sirius and James sat across from them.

"American, huh?" James shared a look with Sirius which led Farrah to believe he wasn't truly asking her and only wanted to make a point of it with his friend.

"Sadly," The girl grinned and couldn't help but glance at Remus as he read but turned back to the two boys across from her. "I'd die for one of your guys' accents."

"I rather like your accent, actually," This time Remus spoke up from beside her and met her eyes. She didn't miss the soft blush that painted its way across his cheeks, but she didn't mention it.

"Damn, Remus," She heard Sirius laugh as him and James shared a look, and possibly a braincell. "Didn't know you could be such a smooth talker."

Farrah rolled her eyes as James stood. He walked over to stand in front of Peter before forcing him to trade seats. He fawned a stretch and rested his arm behind Farrah.

"Merlin," Farrah rolled her eyes as an exasperated sigh fell from her lips. "Is that really the best you've got?"

James smiled fervently down at the girl before exchanging yet another look with Sirius who was keeling with laughter. She felt Remus chuckle beside her. Farrah had unknowingly challenged the Potter boy with her remark, and he would make it his mission to swoon the girl, despite his failing attempts at swooning the one and only Lily Evans.

Farrah turned her attention to Remus as they began a passionate conversation about the book he was rereading in his lap, Wuthering Heights.

_______________________

It had been two months since the train ride with the four rather strange boys, and Farrah had made the mistake of thinking that's the last she would see or hear of them. Little did she know, the four boys and two girls would become her makeshift family at Hogwarts.

Farrah had been sorted into Gryffindor, which made sense seeing as she was a Wampus at Ilvermorny. After her brother was sorted into Slytherin, her four pet idiots never let it go. She shared a dorm with 2 other girls, Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans. Marlene and Lily had taken Farrah in, showed her the overwhelming campus that she still managed to get lost in, and tried unsuccessfully to get her to avoid the four Marauders. Lily and Marlene often complained about Sirius and James, claiming confusion as to why Remus and Pete put up with them, though Farrah couldn't really blame them. The boys seemed to make it their mission to torment everyone with endless streams of pranks. Though Farrah would never admit it, she really enjoyed the pranks when they weren't on her.

Farrah was walking alone to dinner when she heard scuffling from behind her. Startled, she turned on her heels quickly and came face to face with James Potter and Remus Lupin.

"For God's sake, Potter!" Farrah snapped at him, placing a hand on her chest to ease her rapid heartbeat. "You gave me a heart attack."

"Did it hurt?" James grinned at the girl as he rested an arm on her shoulder tugging her in step with him as he continued their path to the Great Hall.

"Well, of course n-"

"When you fell from heaven?" Farrah's face went slack as she rolled her eyes. She glanced to Remus who gave her an apologetic smile.

"You know what? It very much did hurt, James. Thanks for noticing," Farrah fluttered her eyelashes and smiled overly sweetly before shrugging the boy's arm off. After linking her arm in Remus', she tugged him towards the Great Hall.

"He's never going to stop, is he?" Farrah pouted up at Remus who stood half a foot above her.

"Nope," Remus grinned down at her, causing her to sigh and rest her head on his arm as they walked. "When it comes to a girl-or I guess girls now-James doesn't know when to quit."

"What do you mean?" Farrah asked, but was interrupted as James made his way in step with them and pulled Farrah so his arm could rest over her shoulders and her grip on Remus was lost. James hugged her to his body and Farrah allowed him to, seeing as the first time she pulled away he caused a scene in the Great Hall and embarrassed her. She didn't mind the affection as she herself was a touchy person, but Farrah also didn't want her brain to get confused since she didn't know if James actually liked her or not, and she had no idea how she could recover if she accidentally fell for him and found out it was all a part of a game.

"Ah, my precious Vixen," James grinned at her and let out a content sigh. "How has your day been, love?"

"Fine," Farrah rolled her eyes, yet laughed to herself at the nickname the Marauders created for her. When she noticed James was waiting for more, Farrah spoke again. "Oh, sorry. My dear, beloved, James, how was your day?"

Remus chuckled deeply from the other side of Farrah which always sent a warm wave through her body. Remus was the only Marauder that she went out of her way to hang out with since the train ride. They often met to study and talk about different books they had read, and Farrah loved every minute of it.

"Oh, it was brilliant," Farrah and James said brilliant at the same time which caused James to smirk and rest a playful kiss on the top of her head as they walked into the Great Hall. "Ah, you get me Farrah Cole."

Farrah laughed and rolled her eyes before pushing James off her slightly and taking a seat across from Lily and Marlene. James was quick to follow her and plop down into the seat across from Lily and next to her.

"Hello, ladies," He grinned cheekily at the three of them, his eyes falling on Lily for a moment too long before he turned back to Farrah. "Go to Hogsmeade with me, Farrah."

Farrah sighed as he asked her for the fiftieth time. She heard Marlene and Lily snort, and she sent a glare their way. Before she could open her mouth, Sirius, Peter, and Remus made their way to sit with them, Remus of course taking the open seat next to Farrah, Sirius next to Marlene, and Peter next to James.

"Please, I get like one moment of peace away from you," Farrah threw her head back slightly and groaned. She gestured to her full plate of food with her hand as she continued speaking. "Dinner is very important to me and I think we should keep it as neutral time."

"Whatever do you mean, darling?"

"Don't call me that," Farrah snapped her head in James' direction and he smirked at her. "I mean, please just call off the stupid flirting challenge or whatever during dinner because I don't know if I can take it anymore."

"Well, Vix," Sirius quipped. "You could save us all the pain by simply going to Hogsmeade with the idiot."

Marlene and Lily almost choked when Farrah actually agreed.

"Fine, just swear this one date will end this stupid thing," Farrah gestured between the two of them as James shook his head quickly. He brought his face closer to hers and grinned.

"Can't promise you won't fall in love with me," James spoke lowly, but everyone was watching the exchange, either grimacing or smirking.

"Oh, James," Farrah sighed and mocked heart eyes at the boy. "You're so right. I've already fallen madly in love with you."

James gaped at her for a moment, amused and surprised at Farrah's quick and witty responses. He leaned in closer for a moment and Farrah cocked an eyebrow at him. She heard James choke as she placed her hand delicately on his face. His eyes flashed down at her lips for a moment and she smirked. As James tried to lean in further, Farrah shoved his head away and to the side with her hand.

"You couldn't handle it," She winked at the boy who sat there completely in shock. Marlene and Sirius were roaring with laughter as they smacked each other lightly with the back of their hands. Farrah turned her attention back to her food and Remus watched as she ate, falling ever so slightly more for the girl.

________________

Farrah should have known that after accepting James' invitation to Hogsmeade, he wouldn't leave her alone. It had gotten to the point where students were commenting about her being the "new Lily" right in front of her, but she was oblivious to it being directed at her and to what they meant by it. James found new ways to try to swoon the girl, constantly finding a reason to wrap an arm around her waist or shoulders, always picking the seat right next to her, bringing her random flowers and trinkets to dinner each night, and finally, setting off giant romantic gestures that often got him a harsh talking to from McGonagall. Farrah had to admit that if she weren’t so stubborn, she would have already fallen for the boy, but she didn't want to give in.

"Come on, Farrah," James groaned from beside her. They were in The Three Broomsticks huddled together in a booth to avoid the cold air. "You could at least act like you're having fun."

Farrah sighed and leaned closer to James unintentionally, the cold air coming through the cracks in the wood walls around them and causing her to shiver.

"I'm sorry," She rubbed her hands together and blew a deep breath into them in an effort to prevent her fingers from going numb. "I'm just freezing, and usually I like to curl up next to a fire and read when it's cold out."

"We can head back to the castle after we finish our butterbeers," James smiled softly, but seemed disappointed.

"No, no. It's ok," Farrah smiled at him, suddenly feeling bad for ruining the date he had planned. Surely, she thought she could suck it up and make their one and only date fun for them both. The door to the pub opened with a loud bang as it hit the wall harshly. Sirius and Remus walked towards the pair while Peter stayed back at the castle to study. Sirius eyed the position the two were in, James had his arm wrapped tightly around Farrah's waist holding her to him and Farrah had rested her head on his shoulder.

"Wow, Farrah," Sirius smirked as he sat beside Remus in the booth across from them. Remus noted the way the cold had made her nose and cheeks blush slightly, and the way her breaths were short and sharp. "Didn't know you'd give in that quick."

This time Farrah's blush was caused from Sirius' words and the wink he sent after them. Farrah pulled herself off James as she made slight eye contact with Remus. "Can it, Pads. It's fucking cold."

Farrah nudged Remus' foot under the table to grab his attention before giving him a lopsided smile in greeting.

"Hey, Remmy," She grinned brightly, and Remus felt himself relax at the nickname falling from her lips.

"Hey, Fare," Remus smiled back before ordering himself and Sirius their own butterbeers. Unlike Lily and Marlene who decided to give the pair their alone time, Padfoot and Moony interrupted what was meant to be a date and didn't seem to care.

Farrah watched with a smile as the three boys laughed and talked for what felt like hours. It always seemed to be Sirius making a rather inappropriate joke or comment, James laughing before Farrah hit him, and Remus rolling his eyes and sighing but allowing a small smile to grace his features. Farrah envied the friendship they shared that resembled a brotherhood. While she had become closer with Lily and Marlene, at times it felt like they just hung out together because there was no one else. Lily refused to be friends with any of the Marauders besides Remus, and Marlene wouldn't either solely because she claimed Sirius and James were obnoxious and she didn't have time for their childish games.

"So, I know that wasn't much of a date," James grabbed Farrah's arm before she could follow after the others out of the pub, "but how did I do?"

"It was weirdly perfect," Farrah furrowed her brows but smiled. James smirked down at her before placing a soft kiss on her forehead. Farrah blushed and cocked an eyebrow at the boy but didn't say anything.

"Good, because I plan on doing it again, properly, if you want to."

With that, Farrah had finally given in to the boy and decided it was time to try it out with him. She didn't know what may come of it, but she let herself relax and go with it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Remus is jealous, Sirius notices, and Farrah is completely oblivious.

It was completely unexpected—or at least that's what Remus liked to think. Who knew James would take an interest in anyone besides Lily Evans? Who knew that it would be the one girl that caught Remus' eye? And how _lucky_ was it that she indeed took an interest in James in return? Remus knew there was no hope from the beginning—he's a _werewolf_ —but he would much rather prefer being secretly in love with a random girl rather than his best mate's girlfriend.

He knew it was selfish, but it never failed that any time he was forced to watch the couple kiss, hold hands, and just be completely consumed by one another he'd feel a sudden urge to punch his best friend. Never in a million years would he do it, James was the best of them, but much like in this exact moment, seeing Farrah giggling as James attacked her neck with kisses, all Remus wanted to do was run away or jump across the breakfast table and tackle James in a brawl.

The simple solution is to suffer quietly and remind himself that he's a _werewolf —_ true love isn't exactly something his future holds. The problem is that no matter how much his head speaks logically, his stomach and chest never stopped clenching when Farrah was around.

A foot came in contact with Remus' ankle and he glanced around to find the culprit. His eyes landing on the same brown eyes that always occupy his thoughts.

"Remmy?" Merlin, even her voice had an effect on the boy. Farrah had managed to force James' lips away so she could speak. "You alright?"

"Always," It was the same answer he gave every time she asked. There's no way his friends hadn't noticed his change in behavior over the last few weeks. With the full moon approaching once more, the whole Farrah/James situation was eating away at his nerves more than usual. Typically, Remus was able to force a grin when she asked, but he was too weak and honestly didn't care enough to.

He saw Farrah's eyebrows furrow slightly before she accepted his one-word answer and smiled softly. Sirius clapped a hand on Remus' back as James eyed him with a face full of concern.

"No worries, little vixen," Sirius moved his hand to wrap an arm around his friends shoulder. "Remus is just feeling a bit sick right now. If he doesn't get to feeling any better soon, we'll take him straight to Poppy."

"Relax, Cole," James grinned at his girlfriend as he stood and gathered their things in his arms. "Moony'll be fine. We've got potions soon. See you lot in there." He gave a wave to the entire group before patting Farrah's upper back expectantly.

"You're right," She smiled at him as she began to stand as well. Remus felt her hand fall on top of his hesitantly, her fingers twitching as if she was unsure. They hadn't really touched each other since she began dating James. "I hope you feel better, Remus."

__________________

Dinner wasn't any better for Remus. Farrah had begun forgetting the unspoken seating chart and casually sat in the seat across from Remus more and more with a clingy James by her side. It was as if they thought torturing him with a perfect view of the stem of his jealousy was fun.

Farrah, however, seemed different. Her smile would falter slightly anytime James addressed Lily and her gaze would follow Prongs' to the red headed girl that began laughing more at James' stupid attempts at a joke.

Remus also didn't miss how James' gaze towards Lily looked the same as before he knew Farrah. He knew that James wouldn't suddenly get over his longing for Lily, but he silently begged his friend to get on with it and spare Farrah the heartbreak. No matter how much Remus wanted the couple to separate, he, more than anything, wanted Farrah to be happy.

"Looks like your heads in the clouds today, Moony," Sirius leaned so that their shoulders were touching, and he spoke with a low voice to draw less attention.

"Ah, sorry," Remus mumbled, throwing his hand to the nape of his neck to rub awkwardly. "Just the moon, ya know?"

"Yeah, the moon..." Sirius said with a sarcastic tone, flashing Remus a sympathetic smile.

"Shut up," Remus sighed, crossing his arms over the table, and struggling to suppress the idea of taking a nap right in the Great Hall. The full moon always made him weaker and sicker. He couldn't wait to be done with it for the short amount of time he gets to rest between each cycle.

Sirius studied his friend's face as the boy's eyes danced around to anything and everything to avoid watching the pair on their honeymoon. It wasn't a secret to Sirius that Remus is, or at least had been, pining over their dear friend Farrah. Padfoot had cornered the boy when he noticed the way he interacted with Farrah and noted how differently he was with her versus any other girl. It was only a month into Farrah being at Hogwarts when Padfoot caught on. Remus begrudgingly explained the entire situation, not forgetting to mention he would never put her in the dangerous position of being with a werewolf. Sirius had sighed at that and tried to encourage Remus to go for it, but a short month later and Farrah and James were stuck to each other like glue.

It didn't make sense to Sirius. James had always been obsessed with the one and only Lily Evans. Shite, the marauders couldn't get James to shut up about her for years and suddenly he's moved on? Everyone, besides the three involved, could see that James was still silently pining for Lily, and Sirius knew if James hurt Farrah, the marauders would be at uncomfortable odds. Sirius didn't plan on taking sides, but if he had to, he wasn't sure if James would really be the side he _should_ take. Sure, he would always be there for him, but James would be the one in the wrong, and Merlin knows that Remus and maybe even Peter would comfort Farrah. And Sirius knew they wouldn't necessarily be wrong for doing so.

Remus felt a kick to his shin which caused him to lock eyes with the one person he had been avoiding.

"Hey, Remmy," Farrah's voice was a low whisper, and James was in the middle of a heated argument with Peter and Lily about another random and insignificant topic. Remus could see Sirius pretending not to listen, but his eyes flickering to the two of them every few seconds was a strong tell that he was indeed invested in their conversation. "Can we talk after dinner?"

"About what?" Remus was more nervous than he was hopeful. He's meant to meet Madam Pomfrey for the full moon tonight, but he also wants to talk to Farrah. Farrah shrugged and gave him a soft smile.

"I'm not really sure yet. Just please?" Of course there was no way Remus would be able to simply say no. He knew he needed to, but this was Farrah, and if Farrah said she needed something, Remus was sure he would do it for her. Sirius seemed to know this as well. He hit Remus discreetly with an elbow to the ribs when Remus nodded in agreement. Farrah didn't notice and went back to her previous conversation.

"What the hell, Moony?" Sirius whispered harshly; a warm waft of his breath hit Remus in the face. Remus shrugged his shoulders in an effort to push him out of such close proximity.

"Relax, Pads," Remus shrugged once more. "I have plenty of time after dinner to talk. It'll be fine. And it's none of your business."

Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Do you think you're really in the right mood to talk? Being this close to it?"

"I'll be fine," Remus snapped. Sirius' face deadpanned as he gestured to the boy that grew angry over a simple question. "Shut up. I'm going to talk to her either way."

"Whatever you say, Moony."

_________________

"Remus," Farrah whispered harshly from somewhere behind Remus as he was walking through the corridor after dinner. He had been able to leave dinner after everyone else so he could find Farrah. She had left dinner early saying she needed to study to avoid James asking questions later on. When he offered to go with her, she simply said it was okay and that she would see him before bed.

As Remus tried to turn and find where Farrah had whispered from, a harsh tug on his sweater pulled him into an empty classroom.

"Why are you acting so weird?" Remus questioned her as he shook her grip off of his waist. He had never seen Farrah so distraught and figured there was something really bad going on, not to mention he was meant to meet Pomfrey in an hour and he had no idea how long Farrah intended on talking.

"I'm sorry," Farrah sighed. She sat down in an empty chair that was closest to her and put her face in her hands. Remus took a seat beside her but made sure they weren't close enough to touch. "I was never like this before."

"Before what?"

"Before James," Farrah rested her elbows on the table in front of them and stared ahead as if there was a teacher actually in front of the class. Her chin was propped up with her hands and a solemn look fell across her face.

"What do you mean?" Remus had to admit he was curious. He didn't care, at the moment, if this talk, they were having would hurt him, he simply wanted to be there for Farrah.

"There's something off with him," Farrah groaned once more, wiping her eyes lazily with her finger tips before returning to the same position as before. Remus knew what she was talking about. James didn't seem entirely over Lily and apparently that was becoming increasingly clear to his _girlfriend._ "You have to tell me—honestly. Did something happen between him and Lily before I moved here?"

Remus opened his mouth but closed it right after. What was he meant to say? _Oh yeah, your lovely boyfriend has been obsessed with Lily Evans since the first day of our first year._ Remus couldn't do that to James, or Farrah for that matter. No matter what Remus felt for the girl, James and his friendship came first, and he knew—despite his objections—that they were actually a good couple. He was sure James would see Farrah the way he does sometime soon.

"Nothing happened between them, honest," He wasn't actually lying. Lily never gave James the time of day and there hadn't been anything to happen between the two.

Farrah sighed. "I knew I was being stupid, I just got insecure, I guess. I mean, she's Lily freaking Evans. She's the sweetest girl ever and she’s gorgeous. I guess I was just seeing things that weren't there."

"Are you kidding me?" Remus gaped at the girl and before he could think, he was talking again, his hand grabbing a hold of the girl beside him. "Farrah you're the perfect girl. You don't have to compete with Lily. You're both great, but James chose you for a reason, trust me."

Farrah stared at Remus, a small and grateful smile played on her lips, her small hand squeezing Remus' with affection. They stared at each other for a few moments before Remus' watch began to warm. He had charmed it in their 3rd year after he nearly missed his meeting with Pomfrey because he fell asleep in the library—luckily, Peter had found him before anything terrible could happen. Remus glanced at his watch and his eyes widened when he realized he only had half an hour to get to the medical wing.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," He told Farrah and tried to drop her hand, but she held on.

"Go where? It's getting late, you'll miss curfew," She looked bewildered and genuinely concerned for her friend. Remus gave her hand another gentle squeeze.

"Don't worry about me, Cole," Remus dropped her hand then, offering her the best smile his weakened body could. "I'll be fine."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Farrah discovers a secret and Remus self sabotages.

It may have been the worst thing Farrah had seen. The boy that she had felt so complicatedly for was currently bruised and cut to pieces. The exposed skin, just above where the white sheet fell under his arm pits, was battered all over. The beautiful boy had blues and purples splayed across the canvas of his arms and chest, a swollen and deep scratch lined his collarbones, and his arms were covered in smaller cuts and even what looked to be a bite mark.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a new thing for Farrah to behold, but when she shoved her way past Sirius and James and right into the hospital wing, her lungs felt like they had collapsed. She thought she was done with it all. The all-nighters, the near-death experiences, the shattered people that barely made it through the nights. It was her aunt, Isabel, who had been young enough to be her sister, and that was how Farrah had seen her. The girl had been bitten by a werewolf when she turned 15, Farrah had been 13. Their parents were in no way prepared for hosting a fucking werewolf, and it fell solely into Isabel’s own hands.

Farrah couldn’t let her go through it all alone. She had wanted to be with her sister every step of the way, but a human and a fully changed werewolf wouldn’t work out too well. She had stayed up every full moon to offer some semblance of support to her sister. Her parents had warded and warded and warded their barn so that Isabel could change in there and not harm anyone. Farrah had sat just inside the casted muffliato spell and listened as her sister clawed away every piece of skin she had.

There was nothing she could do, and once MACUSA—the magical congress in the US—had taken the British Ministry’s example, Isabel had been forced onto a registry for all werewolves when she turned 18 and was taken to a holding cell each full moon. Believe it or not, Isabel had somehow returned that first month in MACUSA’s cells even worse than she usually did.

To think that her best friend had been going through the same thing cut Farrah completely down to her core.

It wasn’t entirely hard to discover. In a nonmagical world, Remus would have been the sketchiest person alive, with his scars peeking out from beneath his cable-knit sweaters, his monthly illness, and his cryptic conversations with the other marauders. Farrah could hex herself for not being observant enough to realize it before. It had been almost three months since Farrah had moved to Hogwarts, and she had just pieced together the most important thing about her best friend.

“Alright, Moony?” Farrah’s voice had come out a lot stronger than she thought it would. She had been grasping onto Remus’ hand for a long two hours after forcing her way into the hospital. Pomfrey had tried to send her away, but Farrah set her face into a stony glare and didn’t budge. Padfoot was sitting across from her, taking the chair on the other side of the bed while Peter napped on one of the hospital beds. James had offered to get them all some pastries or something of the sort for breakfast while they waited for Remus to wake up.

Remus’ eyes were blinking slowly, a squint seemingly permanent as he tried to take in his surroundings. “Mm…Farrah?”

“Right here, Remmy,” Farrah let her thumb glide across the back of Remus’ hand as she stepped onto her toes to press a lasting kiss to the boy’s forehead, her free hand coming up to cradle his face gently. Sirius tried to feign disinterest, but he couldn’t help but think what James would be feeling if he were to bear witness to the moment playing out before him. “I’m not going anywhere,” she spoke as she placed another delicate kiss to his cheek.

“Wait…Farrah?” Remus’ eyes were suddenly wide open, his mind betraying his body as he pulled away from the girl’s warmth. “Why on Merlin’s balls are you here?”

Moony began frantically looking around the hospital wing, his eyes dancing on Peter’s still sleeping figure before landing on Sirius. “Pads,” He nearly growled. The idea of Farrah finding out seemingly outweighed the pain and exhaustion he was going through. “Get her out of here.”

Sirius began to move, but Farrah shot him a deadly look. “Sirius, you move one more centimeter, and I will not hesitate to hex you.”

“I don’t want you here,” Remus’ voice was low, and for a moment Farrah felt embarrassment and pain run through her body until she was able to shake herself out of it.

“Tough luck, Remmy. I’m not going anywhere,” Her glare was one that no one could hold a candle to, but Remus’ glare didn’t falter. He held her gaze with confidence and tried as much as he could to force Farrah’s hand—to push her away.

“Go on then,” Remus sighed, a flashing look of hurt crossed his eyes before his set his face into stone and gestured expectantly. Farrah hesitated, unsure of what he meant. Her eyebrow quirked, waiting for his explanation. “Go on and tell me how much you hate me now. How much of a monster I am. It’s okay, I understand.”

“Are you serious?” Farrah scoffed, and for a moment, the both of them were distracted as Sirius opened his mouth with a joke, and the two of them sent him deadly glares to shut him up. “You really think I would say something like that? About you?”

“It’s what everyone says, Farrah,” Moony sighed again, his exhaustion coming back in a forceful way and he was almost mad at Farrah for making him do this right after last night. “It’s what I think.”

“Well, you’re wrong. And if I hear you say another bad thing about my best friend, I will actually hex you,” Farrah furrowed her brows at the broken boy before her. He flashed her a look of disgust as if he couldn’t fathom her being as okay with this as she apparently was. “We’ll talk about this later, you need to rest.” She placed a delicate hand on his cheek, and Remus immediately pushed his face closer to her palm. He knew she was taking pity on him, but he wanted the affection so badly that he didn’t truly care where it stemmed from.

______________

“It’s later, Moony,” Sirius mumbled in a soft voice as he plopped himself down onto Remus’ bed. He had watched Remus avoid Farrah for days after the confrontation in the hospital. Being able to successfully take solace in their dorm room, after telling James he didn’t want to see her, and being able to avoid partnering with her in any classes as James took that role upon himself. Truly, he didn’t realize how much their relationship would actually come in handy to him.

Remus grumbled a reply but didn’t say anything as he pulled his book closer to his face to avoid Sirius’ gaze.

“I’m serious, Moony. You can’t avoid her forever. And I know you don’t want to,” Sirius placed a comforting hand on his best friend’s hand that was gripping the book, pushing it down so the boy was forced to look up from it. Their gazes met in a solemn look.

“Yeah, you are Sirius,” Moony used Sirius’ own quips against him, but Padfoot wasn’t able to truly appreciate it because it was used humorlessly. He groaned loudly.

“Remus Lupin, stop being such a twat and go and talk to her,” He scolded, but didn’t give Moony a chance to reply before he gripped his upper arm harshly and the pair wrestled with one another as Sirius dragged the lanky boy down the steps of their dormitory straight onto the common room couch where Farrah sat with Lily and Marlene.

“I’ve had enough of this,” He sent a pointed look to both Farrah and Remus as he shoved Moony towards Farrah. “Now you both need to kiss and make up so we can all go back to normal.” On one hand, Sirius knew he should’ve phrased that a bit differently, but on the other hand, the scowls he received from Lily, Remus, and Farrah made him feel a bit better about it. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”

Lily shared a look with Farrah, who simply nodded, and began to drag Marlene away from the tense situation and back to their dorm. Sirius only hesitated a moment to ensure Moony wouldn’t make a run for it, and when the boy sat beside Farrah, he gave a sheepish smile and bounded out of the common room.

There a was long beat of awkward silence that settled in the room. The only sound being the shaking of Remus’ leg as the fabric of his pants rubbed against the couch. Farrah’s face was stoic as she waited for the sandy-haired boy to speak first, but Remus seemed to have the same idea as he stared at his hands and fumbled with his fingers.

“This is the part where you apologize, Remus,” Farrah said as she crossed her arms on her chest and tapped a foot impatiently at the boy.

“ _Where_ _I apologize_?” Remus scoffed, throwing a look of complete disbelief at Farrah. A challenging glint flashed in Farrah’s dark brown eyes as she stared right back at Remus. “You’re the one who barged into the hospital wing when I didn’t _want_ you there! I don’t know what you expected out of this _chat,_ but you clearly aren’t getting an apology from me.”

“Are you quite done?” Farrah sighed, pressing her thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose, and closing her eyes. “I know you think I’ve breached your privacy or something, but I’d like to think that I’m one of your best friends—you’re my best friend at least—and when my friends are going through _monthly shit storms_ I would like to know.”

“You think you know what it’s like? You think you have some sort of right to _my_ secrets?” Remus snapped, throwing a hand towards the ceiling in anger. “You don’t know _anything_ , so stay out of this, Farrah. It’s not your problem to deal with.”

“Oh please,” Farrah’s voice began to get an edge as her frustration grew. “You know me enough to know I’m not just going to drop this. You’re my best friend, it’s my job to worry about your problems too.”

“Then stop,” Remus snapped before Farrah could continue.

“What?”

“From now on, we’re not friends. Just stay out of my business and leave me alone,” Remus’ voice was quiet, but harsh. He didn’t look at Farrah again before he stood and stalked out of the common room and into the staircase leading to his dorm.

“You did that on purpose,” Sirius’ voice was low and full of disbelief. He had been waiting on the steps for Remus, obviously eavesdropping on their conversation. Remus sighed in response and tried to shove past Sirius’ shoulder, but the grey-eyed boy didn’t budge.

“Pads, I’m not in the mood.”

“Moony, you cannot be serious,” Padfoot said as he pressed a hand on Remus’ chest to force him to look at him.

“No, you’re Sirius,” Remus sighed and took advantage of Sirius’ bafflement to push passed him into their dorm, climbing into his bed and drawing the curtains closed with a swish of his wand.


End file.
